Alutiiq Word of the Week: Cimiyuq - Cilrayuk - DragonflyCilrayuk - Dragonfly Cilrayuk alingtaakait. - They used to be afraid of the dragonfly. Did you know that Alaska has an official insect? In 1995, the state’s school children awarded the dragonfly this special honor. The four-spotted skimmer (Libellula quadrimaculata) took the prize. Like the other 30 species of dragonflies in Alaska, this insect can eat up to 600 flies or mosquitos a day and it is a spectacular fli...

Alutiiq Word of the Week: Masiqsiraq - Port LionsMasiqsiraq - Port Lions Elltuwaqa Masiqsirami skuuluqutartuq.- My granddaughter is going to go to school in Port Lions. On Friday March 27, 1964, life changed dramatically for the residents of Afognak village. A magnitude 9.0 earthquake ripped open the sea floor off the coast of Kodiak, creating a series of tsunamis that devastated the village. Residents were forced to evacuate as seawater engulfed the community. ...

Alutiiq Word of the Week: Muuguaq - Watermellon BerryMuuguaq - Watermellon Berry Muuguat amlerpianitut maani, allrani kesiinikuutaartukut, piturnirtut. - There are not many watermelon berries around here, but sometimes we find them, and they’re delicious. The watermelon berry (Streptopus amplexifolius) is a slender, tall, leafy shrub. It grows to about three feet tall and can be found in woods, alder thickets, and meadows across the southern half of Alaska. A member...

Alutiiq Word of the Week: Nagaayuq - Refuge Rock; Fortress Nagaayuq Ikani et’uq. - There is a refuge rock over there. To protect their families from raiders, Alutiiqs built temporary settlements at the top of precipitous cliffs and small, rocky, cliff-bound islands. These strategically located refuges were designed to repel attackers. Here, families prepared shelters and stockpiled supplies. When communities feared aggression, they retreat...

Alutiiq Word of the Week: Naut'staat - PlantsNaut'staat - Plants Ilait naut'staat yaatutaartut. - Some plants are poisonous. Kodiak Island is often called Alaska's Emerald Isle, a nickname that reflects its thick carpet of green summer plants. Abundant rain, mild temperatures, and long summer days combine to make the region's mountains and meadows exceptionally productive for plant growth. There are about 650 known species of vascular plants in the archipela...

Alutiiq Word of the Week: Carwaq - CurrentCarwaq - Current Carwaq tukniuq. - The current is strong. Perched on the edge of the continental shelf, the Kodiak Archipelago lies in the path of the Alaska current. Driven by wind and freshwater, this warm oceanic flow courses out of the central Pacific and circulates counterclockwise along the Gulf of Alaska’s coast. This current, and Alaska’s high coastal mountains, shield the gulf from the cold climate of Ala...

Alutiiq Word of the Week: Unganuuk – Uganik IslandUnganuuk – Uganik Island Gui ataaqa Unganuuni suullria. – My father was born at Uganik Island. Uganik Island is a large, mountainous landmass on the western coast of the Kodiak Archipelago. It is the eighth largest island in the Kodiak region, covering approximately fifty-seven square miles. The island trends northwest to southeast, forming the northern limit of the Uganik Bay region and creating the southern coas...

Alutiiq Word of the Week: Nunam KalikaaNunam Kalikaa – Map Ikuk’gka kalikami. – I found it on the map. The Alutiiq word for map, nunam kalikaa, literally means “the land’s paper.” Although maps and marine charts are important to modern hunters and fishermen, they are recent navigational tools. For thousands of years, Alutiiq people stored information about the landscape in place names and stories. Eighteenth-century Russian fur traders made the first m...

Alutiiq Word of the Week: Lapaat’kaaq – ShovelLapaat’kaaq – Shovel Kiagmi lapaat’kaat aturtaarait uk’uruutateng asircarluki. – In the summer they use shovels to fix up their gardens. Digging tools were important in classical Alutiiq society, both for subsistence activities and for construction. Men and women used long, pointed pieces of whalebone to dig clams from the beach and unearth the roots of plants used for food and medicine. Alutiiqs also fashioned sh...